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Sen. Elizabeth Warren and challenger John Deaton clash over abortion, immigration in first debate
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and her Republican challenger, John Deaton, battled in a fiery debate Tuesday night, clashing over abortion rights, the economy and immigration.
With polls showing Warren holding a strong lead in the race, the televised debate, sponsored by WBZ and The Boston Globe, gave Deaton a chance to introduce himself to Massachusetts voters in his long-shot bid to oust the incumbent Democrat.
Deaton, 57, grew up poor in the Detroit area before attending New England College of Law and joining the Marines. This past winter, he moved from Rhode Island to Massachusetts to announce his run for Senate.
The Republican candidate accused his opponent of being an out-of-touch and divisive politician, more interested in party and ideology than solving problems.
"There's only one extremist on this stage tonight and it's Elizabeth Warren. I'm the moderate, centrist, common-sense candidate," he said.
Right out of the gate, Deaton attacked Warren for voting against a bipartisan border bill — accusing her of complicity in a crisis that he says allows criminals into the country.
Warren hit back, pointing out the bill was dead-on-arrival in the U.S. House — and suggested Deaton is the extremist for embracing former President Donald Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric. And she said a Deaton victory could hand Republicans control of the Senate and set back efforts on climate, health care and gun control, while moving the country a big step closer to a nation-wide abortion ban.
"We are potentially talking about the lives of our daughters and granddaughters. And when that's on the line, we cannot trust John Deaton," Warren said.
Deaton says he's pro-abortion rights, and if elected, would support a federal law to protect them. It's one of the ways he's trying to thread the political needle in deep blue Massachusetts — casting himself as a moderate Republican willing to shake things up as he tries to unseat a popular blue-state Democrat with a national profile. In Tuesday night's debate, he accused Warren of living in a "partisan political world," where all Democrats are great, and Republicans are bad.
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"I got news for you, senator, all of you suck," Deaton said. "It's a broken system. I'm disrupting that system."
They clashed on housing, foreign policy and crypto-currency, which Deaton touts as a way to “democratize” banking. Warren seeks to regulate it — and points out that crypto industry backers donated millions of dollars to help Deaton's campaign. She suggested if he makes it to Washington, he'll be a stooge for crypto-billionaires.
"I fight for working people," Warren said, adding that if Deaton wins, "his crypto buddies" will expect a return on their investment.
"He's going to be there to fight for crypto," she said.
Deaton shot back that he wished Warren would attack inflation and securing the border the way she attacks crypto.
Warren and Deaton will continue their fight Thursday evening in Springfield, for their second and final debate. Early voting in Massachusetts begins this weekend.
This article was originally published on October 16, 2024.
This segment aired on October 16, 2024.
